Ribbon And Yarn Dispensing Carrying Case

ABSTRACT

A series of shaped apertures are cut or stamped through the walls of a carrying case. Individual strands of elongated flexible material extend from organized rolls or spools of the material stored inside the case out through each of the apertures. The high friction rubberized wall material surrounding each aperture holds the extending strands for selecting and cutting a desired length.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present utility patent application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60/959,844 filed Jul. 16, 2007.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to dispensing receptacles for spooled material and particularly to a portable craft carrying case for holding, transporting, organizing and dispensing ribbon, yarn, or any other rolled up flexible ribbon or cable-like material; the portable craft case comprising a rubberized collapsible case having a bottom, four walls each having a plurality of small apertures which may be round or slits or cross-shaped for frictionally drawing and dispensing single strands of the ribbon or yarn therethrough to the outside of the case, and a top having a carrying handle thereon which opens exposing the internal spool holding compartment for access to the spools.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

When using ribbon and yarn and other elongated flexible fabric material for arts and crafts such as macrame, making clothing, gift wrapping or any other application it is desirable to store and transport the spools or rolls of the material in an organized fashion and to be able to select dispense and cut each of the materials separately without entangling the others. Usually there are many different colors and shades involving many different rolls or spools. The problem of organizing, transporting, selecting, dispensing, and cutting the desired strand of the material without entangling the other rolls or spools is a problem not adequately addressed by the prior art.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,664, issued Dec. 2, 1941 to Geisman, provides a portable yarn holder for facilitating the hand-knitting of patterned fabrics from plural yarn sources. The yarn holder comprises a cylindrical container formed from a celluloid sheet. The sheet has holes around the edges which matingly lace with holes punched in the outer edges of circular end pieces. A plurality of dispensing holes allow different colors of yarn to be drawn out and used by the knitter. A carrying strap is provided.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,806, issued Feb. 22, 1977 to de Paez, illustrates a carrying bag device for the sorting, storage and transportation of yarn-like materials including a sack for containing the bulk of the yarn-like material and a sorting member placed in a portion of the bag to allow the free ends of the yarn to pass from the interior to the exterior of the bag separated from each other and readily available to the user.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,730, issued Dec. 23, 1986 to Storey, concerns a portable workbox for a knitting project containing a plurality of small containers connected together, to house the individual yarns, each container having a loading door and a top aperture that is staggered with its neighbor apertures, from which the yarn issues for use in the project, a swivel supporting the box to allow it to be easily rotated to keep in phase with the knitter, a cover for placement over the box having a top higher than the containers so that partially finished projects may be stored therebetween, and a handle by which the box is carried from place to place.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,397, issued Aug. 22, 1978 to Hauck, shows a caddy for knitting and crocheting yarn comprising an upwardly opening generally rectangular receptacle including two pairs of opposite side walls and a plurality of side-by-side upwardly opening generally semi-cylindrical bottom wall portions extend between and are supported from lower marginal portions of one pair of the side walls. A cover is removably secured over the top of the receptacle and adjacent portions of the semi-cylindrical bottom wall portions merge into upstanding partitions whose upper marginal edges are abutted by the top wall. The side walls project downwardly below the bottom wall portions and the latter define a false bottom, a bottom structure being removably secured under the lower marginal edges of the side walls defining a storage area between the upper side of the bottom structure and the under surface portions of the semi-cylindrical bottom wall portions. The top wall is provided with openings therethrough for receiving yarn strands from hanks of yarn resting upon the semi-cylindrical bottom wall portions and one peripheral portion of the receptacle is provided with a bail-type handle swingably supported therefrom and shiftable between a carrying handle defining position and a receptacle propping position whereby the receptacle may be propped in an inclined position on a horizontal surface.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,313, issued May 22, 2001 to Slevin, is for a craft caddy comprising a generally box-shaped case having a removable cover and a base being made of lightweight, yet durable material. The removable cover has a sunken-handle located on a top portion and a means for securely attaching the removable cover to the base. The base has an inside portion which is divided into five compartments, with three of the compartments extending on a front to back axis along side of and parallel to each other, and the fourth and fifth compartments extending from side to side along the rear of the base. A removable rod is provided extending from side to side in the interior of the base. The base has a front portion which has three holes therethrough and a measuring device. Said holes are for receiving yarn or thread from spools mounted on the rod or from the internal compartments, the yarn or thread individually exiting from the interior of the base through the holes for separation or combination and use in the practice of the craft or hobby.

U.S. Pat. No. D505,256, issued May 24, 2005 to Nepp, describes the ornamental design for a ribbon organizer.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,092, issued Jul. 6, 1965 to Parsons, discloses a wrapping and ribbon display and storage kit comprising a paperboard blank which is die cut to form a fold-up case to hold wrapping paper and reels of ribbon. Paper and ribbon may be withdrawn from the case without removing the rolls or reels from the case.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,833, issued Feb. 5, 1980 to Homan, indicates a portable gift wrapping storage container comprising a hinged cover container having ribbon spool storage and dispensing dowels in the cover, and a divided major container portion for storage of folded paper in one section and cards and ribbons in a smaller section. The inside of the cover is provided with loops of elastic ribbon for securing hardware useful for wrapping.

U.S. Patent Application #20050127083, published Jun. 16, 2005 by Russell, describes a gift wrap storage container comprising a closeable storage case for holding sheet material such as gift wrapping paper and other related wrapping accessories. The storage case has at least one section that includes spaced apart roll retainers for rotatably mounting rolls of wrapping paper between them. The roll retainers include a support bracket and a roll engaging mechanism. The storage case includes a cutter mechanism for cutting sections of sheet material from the rolls held within the case and may also include compartments for securing adhesive tape and ribbon therein.

U.S. Patent Application #20070193917, published Aug. 23, 2007 by Munoz, claims wrapping material organizers, dispensers and systems, as well as methods for making and using the same. In one embodiment, an organizer is provided with a plurality of holders located on a portable housing, each configured to hold a roll of wrapping material for dispensing in a generally horizontal orientation. The holders are located in a generally vertically spaced arrangement.

What is needed is a device for storing, organizing, selecting, dispensing, and cutting strands of material from any of a variety of rolls and spools of elongated flexible fabric material.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible portable case of rubberized high friction material with small apertures through the walls to admit strands of flexible elongated fabric material therethrough to form a device for storing, organizing, selecting, dispensing, and cutting strands of material from any of a variety of rolls and spools of elongated flexible fabric material.

In brief, a portable craft carrying case for holding, transporting, organizing and dispensing ribbon, yarn, or any other rolled up flexible ribbon-like or cable-like material; the portable craft case comprises a rubberized collapsible case having a bottom, four walls each having a plurality of small apertures which may be round or slits or cross-shaped or any other desired configuration for frictionally drawing and dispensing single strands of the ribbon or yarn therethrough, and a top having a carrying handle thereon which opens exposing the internal spool holding compartment for access to the spools.

An advantage of the present invention is that it holds single strands of flexible elongated fabric material extending out from the carrying case to form a device for storing, organizing, selecting, dispensing, and cutting single strands of material from any of a variety of rolls and spools of elongated flexible fabric material.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the high friction material with appropriately sized apertures holds each single strand of material extending on the outside of the case and prevents the ends from slipping back into the case.

One more advantage of the present invention is the high friction material with appropriately sized apertures holds one end of a selected length of the material so that a user can hold the outer end of the strand of material and cut off the desired length of the material with the other hand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the ribbon and yarn dispensing case of the present invention showing the case closed with the ends of the flexible elongated strands of material extending out through apertures in the walls of the case;

FIG. 2 is a series of front elevational views of a variety of differently shaped apertures which could be cut or stamped into the walls of the device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ribbon and yarn dispensing case of FIG. 1 showing the case open revealing the rolls of flexible elongated material with the ends of the strands of material extending out through apertures in the walls of the case;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1-3, a portable craft carrying case device 10 holds, transports, organizes and dispenses ribbon, yarn, and other rolls 41 of flexible ribbon or cable-like material 40 extending out of the case through small friction tight apertures 30 and 30A-30H.

The dispenser carrying case 20 comprising a collapsible case having a bottom 21, at least one encircling vertical wall 22 forming a top opening defined by a zipper 25 around an upper edge of the wall, and a closable top cover 23 with a zipper 25 or other closure means to enclose the case, the cover having a carrying handle 24 thereon for transporting the case. The case is transformable from a first folded flat configuration when empty to a second open configuration, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, forming an interior space 27 therein for holding, organizing, and transporting a number of spools and rolls 41 of elongated flexible fabric material inserted therein through the top opening. The walls are fabricated of a rubberized high friction flexible material, preferably vinyl or polyvinyl chloride, having a plurality of small apertures 30 therethrough communicating with the interior of the case so that an outer end of each 40 of the elongated flexible fabric material is pulled from the interior of the case out through an aperture 30 to extend from the inside of the wall 22B out to an outer surface 22A of the wall for access to the outer end from the exterior of the case for selecting, cutting and dispensing the elongated flexible fabric material from the exterior of the case with the cover of the case closed, as shown in FIG. 1.

Each of the apertures is sized and configured to hold the end 40 of the elongated flexible fabric material with a tight friction fit to retain the end protruding from the case to prevent the elongated flexible fabric material from slipping back into the case, and to enable a user to withdraw a desired length of the elongated flexible fabric material holding the outer end with a first hand and cutting off the desired length of the material with a second hand while the high friction wall material surrounding the aperture holds the elongated material at the desired length, thereby providing a portable craft carrying case for holding, transporting, organizing and dispensing ribbon, yam, and other rolled up flexible ribbon-like and cable-like material through the apertures.

In FIG. 2, each of the apertures is configured with at least one shaped opening taken from the list of shaped openings comprising a round shaped opening 30A, a single slit shaped opening 30B, a cross shaped double slit opening 30C, a square shaped opening, 30D, a rectangular shaped opening 30 E, a hexagonal or other multi-sided shaped opining 30G, a star shaped opening 30H, or any desired shaped opening or combination of openings, which openings may be formed in the walls by cutting or stamping.

The flexible elongated strands of material 40 may be different ribbons, yam, rope, or any other ribbon-type or cord-type material stored in rolls or spools.

It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed. 

1. A portable craft carrying case device for holding, transporting, organizing and dispensing ribbon, yam, and other rolled up flexible ribbon or cable-like material, the device comprising: a dispenser carrying case comprising a collapsible case having a bottom, at least one encircling vertical wall forming a top opening around an upper edge of the wall, and a closable top cover to enclose the case, the cover having a carrying handle thereon for transporting the case, the case being transformable from a first folded flat configuration when empty to a second open configuration forming an interior space therein for holding, organizing, and transporting a number of spools and rolls of elongated flexible fabric material inserted therein through the top opening, the at least one wall fabricated of a rubberized high friction flexible material having a plurality of small apertures therethrough communicating with the interior of the case so that an outer end of each of the elongated flexible fabric material is pulled from the interior of the case out through an aperture to extend out of an outer surface of the wall for access to the outer end from the exterior of the case for selecting, cutting and dispensing the elongated flexible fabric material from the exterior of the case with the cover of the case closed, each of the apertures sized and configured to hold the end of the elongated flexible fabric material with a tight friction fit to retain the end protruding from the case to prevent the elongated flexible fabric material from slipping back into the case, and to enable a user to withdraw a desired length of the elongated flexible fabric material holding the outer end with a first hand and cutting off the desired length of the material with a second hand while the high friction wall material surrounding the aperture holds the elongated material at the desired length, thereby providing a portable craft carrying case for holding, transporting, organizing and dispensing ribbon, yarn, and other rolled up flexible ribbon-like and cable-like material through the apertures.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein each of the apertures is formed by cutting an opening through the at least one wall.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein each of the apertures is formed by stamping an opening through the at least one wall.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the each of the apertures is configured with at least one shaped opening taken from the list of shaped openings comprising a round shaped opening, a single slit shaped opening, a cross shaped double slit opening, a rectangular shaped opening, a star shaped opening, and any desired shaped opening.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the case is fabricated of vinyl sheet material.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the case is fabricated of polyvinyl chloride material. 